Lunch With a Side of Nostalgia – Blossom Deli

The historic location of the Blossom Deli injects vintage charm into an otherwise ordinary sandwich. Located on Quarrier Street in the heart of downtown Charleston, The Blossom Deli serves sandwiches, salads and shakes to the local workforce for lunch each day. At night, the restaurant is transformed with linen tablecloths and an upscale menu to offer one of the nicest dinners in the area. Read our review of the Blossom’s dinner offerings by clicking here.

I am one of those people that can be happy ordering the same thing at a particular restaurant time and time again. After all, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, right? Well, that does get a bit boring and it’s poor form for a restaurant reviewer.

I have eaten the create-your-own sandwich on almost every visit to this establishment. Turkey, provolone, lettuce, and various other toppings on toasted wheat. I have always enjoyed the finished product. Adequate, fresh ingredients on nicely toasted bread.

But today I vowed to try something…anything else.

I must be honest and tell you that I was disappointed with this meal. I am not going to say that I simply “ordered the wrong thing” because all menu items should be worthy of ordering. The execution of this dish fell short of my expectations.

There was no way to tell if the focaccia was, in fact, toasted because it was completely soggy. Yes, I knew this would be an open-faced sandwich and was served with a knife. However, the bread was mush. It would have been impossible to pick it up and eat it like a traditional sandwich and was too soggy to need the knife provided. How can this be improved? Why did it happen in the first place? I’m sure we all have our theories.

No side item came with the melt. A few chips would have been nice, especially given the price tag.

It was labeled a “melt” but was not melty. This did not bother me, it was simply ironic.

The defense:

A generous portion of tender chicken was topped with a generous amount of goat cheese and an equally generous number of sun-dried tomatoes. I thought $9.25 was a steep price, but they really went all out on toppings.

Our food was served promptly. (Getting a drink refill was another story, but the kitchen was lightning fast – especially given how incredible busy they were. Probably explains the slow refill, though.)

The good thing about the soggy bread is that I wasn’t tempted to eat it and add all those uneccesary carbohydrates to my body.

If I were to rate Blossom’s lunch solely on this meal, it would be a two. But based on my overall experiences with this restaurant, they receive THREE FORKS from me.

9 responses to “Lunch With a Side of Nostalgia – Blossom Deli”

I’m not a huge fan of the Blossom for lunch. It’s extremely noisy, always crowded and in cold weather you get his with a blast of the Arctic every 10 seconds when someone enter or leaves unless you get seated way in the back.

The food is fine, but unspectacular. I’m not a salad for a meal kind of guy and the sandwiches are kind of skimpy for a “deli.” To me a real deli sandwich is so thick you have trouble getting it to your mouth with two hands. I will say they always seem to prepare your sandwich exactly as you ordered it down to the last detail

Dinner is a much better experience, ambience and foodwise. I’ve had some great meals at dinner and never one that wasn’t good.

I have only been there for lunch – and usually create my own sandwich as well, but for dinner, better go quick: – the dinner service is going to be halted this winter: http://www.dailymail.com/News/200912150647

I’ve seen a lot of people order the focaccia, but to me it’s always looked like a hot mess. Literally. And not the way Joe Biden means “literally.” It seems like there are some good ingredients on that plate, but that the chef is uninterested in putting them together with least little bit of finesse.

So yeah, it’s not that Blossom is bad. But it could be SOOOOOO much better.

The deli sandwiches are all good, I can’t vouch for the foccacia. The smoked salmon BLT is delicious, and so is their tuna melt. Good soups too, just don’t sit near the door in the winter or you will freeze your ass off.

The best Blossom lunch, in my opinion, is on Mondays because you can order the tomato bisque. They have seafood bisque about once a month, and it is delicious. The beef foccacia melt is usually pretty good, as well. They have a lean and regular quiche each day served with a side of fruit, and some of those are very good.